The Mechanical Licensing Collective - or “The MLC” for short - is a new music industry organization created to serve music publishers and self-administered songwriters, lyricists and composers just like you. One of the ways in which we’ll serve you is by improving the way mechanical royalties are administered in the U.S.
Beginning in 2021, The Mechanical Licensing Collective (The MLC) will issue and administer blanket mechanical licenses for interactive audio streaming and download services (also known as digital service providers or DSPs) in the United States. The MLC will then collect the royalties due under those licenses from the DSPs and distribute the payments.
In order to do that, The MLC is creating a new, centralized musical works database that we will use to ensure that all music publishers, administrators and self-administered writers are paid properly. The musical works data that we compile will be available to all writers and publishers, as well as the general public, via our new user portal called The MLC Portal.
What Does This Mean for Self-Administered Songwriters?
If you’re a self-administered songwriter, you’ll need to become a “Member” of The MLC by signing up for The MLC Portal when it rolls out later this year. By law, The MLC’s services will be free for all of its Members. Becoming a Member of The MLC is how you will Connect to Collect™ to receive your share of the digital audio mechanical royalties that The MLC collects from DSPs.
How to Know If You’re a Self-Administered Songwriter
So, how do you know if you are indeed a self-administered songwriter? If you’re unsure of your status, please review The MLC’s Four Questions to Ask Yourself in order to help determine your songwriter status.
What to Do If you ARE a Self-Administered Songwriter
If you are indeed a self-administered songwriter, The MLC has created a new tool to help you organize your data as part of our Play Your Part™ campaign. The Music Data Organization Worksheet was designed to be a simple, low-tech tool to help self-administered writers who have not registered their musical works with an organization like The MLC before. The Music Data Organization Worksheet explains what sort of data you will need in order to register your musical works with The MLC. While more experienced writers will probably already have compiled this sort of information, we know that many self-administered writers will be registering their works for the first time. While completing the worksheet is not a mandatory step, we hope it will be a helpful guide for gathering what you’ll need to get your data ready for The MLC Portal when it rolls out later this year.
Why It’s Important to Play Your Part
But why Play Your Part in the first place? We know that some of you may be asking this question. The answer is simple. No one is in a better position than you to provide the most definitive view of your musical works data. Making sure your data is accurate and complete is also the single best thing you can do to ensure you are paid properly. If each Member of The MLC does their part to ensure their data is accurate, The MLC will be in the best possible position to ensure that every Member gets paid properly – and, together, we will be in a much better position to make that happen.
Still have questions? The MLC is here to help. Please contact us directly at: [email protected]. We’ll do our best to help you determine the steps you can take to Play Your Part.
Want More Information?
There are several ways you can learn more about The MLC:
· The MLC Presents: How Self-Administered Songwriters Can Get Started and Play Their Part (September 17 and October 1) The MLC will host a series of webinars detailing what self-administered writers can do to make sure they receive this important income stream. Each webinar will include a recap of The MLC’s activities to-date and our plans for the future. We’ll discuss eligibility for joining The MLC and how self-administered writers can Connect to Collect to receive the digital audio mechanical royalties they’re owed. Join Dae Bogan, The MLC’s Head of Third-Party partnerships, as he helps guide self-administered writers through the process of organizing their musical works data ahead of the roll out of The MLC Portal.
You can sign up for the webinar date that works best with your schedule by clicking the registration links below!
September 17 at 5pm ET/ 4pm CT / 2pm PT https://themlc.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_nNtC279SR5W-NyTyVOLbwg
October 1 at 5pm ET/ 4pm CT / 2pm PT https://themlc.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_XuxrY4dCQHm34ORrTF8tiA
· Sign up for the MLC's monthly newsletter HERE. · Check out The MLC’s official website at: TheMLC.com
· For the very latest updates, please follow The MLC on social media. You can find them on Twitter and Instagram at @MLC_US, on Facebook at @MLC.US, and on LinkedIn under “The Mechanical Licensing Collective.”
